Camera Talk

Howdy all -

My brother is trying to downsize these days; when we were down there for my dad's 85th last summer, he asked if I wanted any of dad's old camera gear. All 135 stuff, and a lot of it in kits I have no accessories/lenses for. However, there was a Hanimex 35SL in there that seemed in good shape. M42, and I have a ton of that stuff. Sure - send that up, please.

Happened to arrive both on my birthday and while I was in recovery. Turns out it's pretty much an entire kit:



Pretty much a straight-up Spottie clone. Camera works fine. Haven't been able to test the meter, though I suspect that is defunct (though, the meter on my Spotmatic works just fine). Thee are four lenses, a 3x TC, a branded Hanimex flash, some other flash two cases, and a handheld meter. Was not expecting that.

Hopefully will be ambulatory enough in short order that I can hobble around some little local town and run off some film. Guessing the seals are likely shot, too, but looks like a fun little camera.

Scott

Yeah, you'll need to be in good shape to haul all that glass around. Heal up, and Happy Birthday!

PF

Thanks, PF! On all counts. None of this stuff gets any love online, but I grew up seeing the pictures my dad took with them, so I'm optimistic. And, have all the Super Tak stuff as well. Looking forward to playing with it!

I do believe there are some Hanimex items in amongst all my photo gear. I know where to send it now when I come across it.

PF

Lol, I would be honored, PF!

My Spottie accepts a 312 battery and the offset is generally covered by the latitude of the films I use. So I was hoping this 35SL would also take a 312. It does not. Typical mercury battery, as everything back then did. However, somehow, dad had a spare, unwrapped mercury battery in the case that does, in fact, work. Dunno. But the meter is fully functional. And, there's a Super Pilot SBC in there, too. He left batteries in everything, so I need to clean out corrosion and find those adapter batteries for it (if I decide to use it at all). Neat stash.

Throwing some Arista 200 in it now so I can try it out once I'm hobbling around again.

If it is indeed a clone of a Spotmatic, the metering circuit is a bridge type. Should work OK with an alkaline battery of the same size as the original mercury battery. And get well soon!

Looks more like a Chinon or Praktika than an Asahi, I dont think it will work with Silver batteries unless you adjust the circuit

Yeah, it’s apparently a rebranded Chinon 35CS. Operably, functionally, and compatibility wise, same same, but different. For now the meter is working with the random mercury battery that was floating in the case. Not a right now problem, lol.

scott wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 16, 2025 6:10 pm

Yeah, it’s apparently a rebranded Chinon 35CS. Operably, functionally, and compatibility wise, same same, but different. For now the meter is working with the random mercury battery that was floating in the case. Not a right now problem, lol.

I bought a Japanese MR9 (Kanto) adapter for the Yashicamat 124G, it worked great

Yep, every source I could find says Chinon CS. You could get a Wein cell to replace the mercury one, but none of the specifications I read included what size the battery is, just that it is 1.35v which means it's either a PX625 or PX675. The 625 is the larger of the two, while the 675 is about the size of a 375 alkaline or SR44 Silver Oxide. You wouldn't need an adapter with the Wein cells, but they don't last very long, about 3 months at the most.

PF